In, for example, a motor-vehicle door it is standard to have several subassemblies that each are or have electrical components. The latch has an actuator operated by the central locking system, a window motor is provided to raise and lower the glass, a speaker is connected to the vehicle's sound system, an external rear-view mirror has a motor for up-down and side-to-side adjustment, position switches are associated with the door, window, and latch to report conditions, and often a control pad is provided for operating these various actuators. At one time all these subassemblies were connected together and to the on-board power supply or controller via respective wiring harnesses that were meticulously hooked up individually.
It has been suggested in German patent 3,842,340 of Kleinbohl to apply the wiring as flexible conductors laminated to the shield sheet that is typically suspended in the door and that serves to keep water from the window off the electrical components. The conductors have ends that are attached to the various subassemblies and that all meet at one location where a plug/socket arrangement is provided for connection to the on-board power supply and controllers. A similar arrangement is provided in 3,023,905 also of Kleinbohl which is used to make connections to the subassemblies of the vehicle's instrument panel.
In all these systems either the connector harness, whether a conventional wire one or of the foil type, is fairly complex and expensive all by itself. The production of a foil-type harness invariably means working with a very large workpiece, so applying conductive paths to it and making connections for the various subassemblies is an expensive and difficult operation.